PUP at Sneaky Dee’s, Toronto – Gig Review, Show Sketches and Photos

It’s a rare thing for an artist to have an entire venue full of people all pulling for them, cheering them on and celebrating with them. For sure, most decent bands, no matter how long they’ve been established, will have their own mix of friends, family and diehard fans in attendance for their shows, but for Toronto band PUP‘s record release show at Sneaky Dee’s every single person in the room became their friends for a couple of hours.

In the run up to this show, PUP has made a huge impression on the local music press in Toronto, with many words of praise for the band and their self-titled debut album. That hype created anticipation which drew a big crowd to Sneaky Dee’s for this record release show. Many who came along were seeing PUP play for the first time, myself included. By the time they took to the stage the euphoria and excitement had united the entire room of people together in support. The crowd swelled, pushed to the front of the stage, hauled bodies off the floor, and lifted others in the air, as the whole place moved. Building the team spirit of the occasion were main support Pkew Pkew Pkew (Gunshots), who spoke of their pride to see their friend’s make a breakthrough. We were all proud of PUP, and happy to be here to celebrate their arrival.

Making an impact in Toronto’s music scene is significant. As Canada’s music capital, if you make the grade in Toronto then the waves of that impact can spread nationwide and further.

The band’s success is not an overnight one but the result of blood and sweat, with it’s musicians slogging away and refining and redefining their sound. Stefan Babcock, Nestor Chumak, Steve Sladkowski, and Zack Mykula have had other projects, most notably their last band Topanga which changed it’s name and evolved to become PUP in April this year. Somewhere along the way, these musicians have hardened their sound and the result is a band which has given music fans in Toronto something that they didn’t realize they needed: a damn good new punk band. Way to wake us up from the humdrum! There is always room for another good punk band in Toronto — this is, after all, Fucked Up’s town.

PUP are urgent, vital and carry a youthful energy and a bite that is synonymous with their name.